All posts tagged Argo

While appearing on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” to promote his latest film “Gone Girl,” Ben Affleck couldn’t help but rib the Comedy Central host for directing a movie set in Iran (“Rosewater,” due out in November).

“I’m trying to think if there’s a less-babyish word than ‘copycat,’” said the director of the Academy Award-winning “Argo.” Stewart, not to be outdone, goes on to faux-give away the endings of both Gone Girl (Affleck’s character kills his wife) and the upcoming “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice” (Superman kills Batman). And it’s the latter disclosure that really angers cinema’s newest Caped Crusader. Read More »

Michelle Obama wasn’t surprised that her cameo on Sunday night’s Academy Awards set off some debate. The First Lady, who helped to present the award for Best Picture to “Argo,” told the Associated Press, “Shoot, my bangs set off a national conversation. My shoes can set off a national conversation. That’s just sort of where we are. We’ve got a lot of talking going on. It’s like everybody’s kitchen-table conversation is now accessible to everybody else so there’s a national conversation about anything.” The Oscar appearance by Ms. Obama was not the first by a First Lady–in 2002, for example, First Lady Laura Bush made an appearance at the Academy Awards via videotape. But Ms. Obama’s cameo was fodder for all kinds of chatter on the web. “The White House-Hollywood Industrial Complex: Michelle Obama at the Oscars,” read a tweet on the Twitter page of conservative blogger and columnist Michelle Malkin. MSNBC democratic political analyst Karen Finney had a tweet on her page that took a different position: “Hypocrisy: ok for President George W &First Lady Laura Bush to appear on Oscar broadcast but not First Lady Michelle Obama.” What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments. Read More »

In best-picture winner “Argo,” six Americans are whisked out of Iran amid the hostage crisis by an intrepid CIA ex-filtration expert Tony Mendez, played by Ben Affleck. In the run-up to the Oscars broadcast on Sunday, several people involved with the bizarre rescue mission—in which the Americans, hiding at the home of Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor, posed as a Canadian film crew scouting locations for a sci-fi film—quibbled with the movie’s version of events. Even though the film gives most of the credit for the operation to the CIA, President Jimmy Carter told Piers Morgan last week that “90 percent of the contributions of the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian.”

Taylor, played in the movie by Canadian actor Victor Garber, has been a particularly vocal critic of the film’s historical accuracy. Talking to students at Toronto’s Ryerson University, he said that Oscar-winning screenwriter Chris Terrio, “had no idea what he was talking about.” On Tuesday morning, Taylor called Speakeasy to discuss his reactions to the film. (He’ll be giving a talk on Friday about the rescue mission, known as the Canadian Caper, at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas that will be webcast live here.)

The First Lady put in a cameo appearance at the 2013 Academy Awards last night to help announce “Argo” as the winner of the best picture winner Oscar.

The First Lady appeared live from the Diplomatic Room of the White House and set Twitter aflutter. She wore a silver Naeem Khan dress with silver bugle beads in an Art Decoesque design, set off with silver lace chandelier earrings. She said via video that all of the nominees showed that “we can overcome any obstacle.”

So how did the White House and the Oscars manage to pull off one of the biggest Hollywood surprise endings since “The Sixth Sense”?

“Argo” took home the award for best picture at the 2013 Academy Awards, but the top prizes were split between several top films, with Jennifer Lawrence winning best actress for “Silver Linings Playbook” and Daniel Day-Lewis winning best actor for “Lincoln.” Also, Ang Lee picked up best director for “Life of Pi,” Anne Hathaway took home best supporting actress for “Les Miserables,” and Christoph Waltz won best supporting actor for “Django Unchained.”

Read a complete list of winners from the 2013 Oscars after the jump. Read More »

The 85th Annual Academy Awards have arrived and Speakeasy is live-blogging the event. Will the Oscar for best picture go to Ben Affleck’s “Argo,” Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” or some other movie? Stars up for awards tonight include Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro (both for “Silver Linings Playbook”), Emmanuelle Riva (“Amour”), Daniel Day-Lewis (“Lincoln”), Anne Hathaway (“Les Misérables”), Quvenzhane Wallis (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”) and Jessica Chastain (“Zero Dark Thirty”). Tonight’s show, with host Seth MacFarlane, will feature performances from Barbra Streisand, Norah Jones, and Adele.

WSJ reporters Barbara Chai and Erica Phillips will be reporting from the press room and red carpet, with many more reporters filing from around the world. Follow along and tell us what you think in the comments as the winners are announced and the performances unveiled!

The 85th Annual Academy Awards with host Seth MacFarlane are on tonight on ABC and Speakeasy will be bringing you the action as it happens, with a live blog that kicks off at 6 p.m. ET.

“Argo,” “Lincoln,” and “Life of Pi” are among the top nominees, but who was left off the roster is as interesting as who made it. Ben Affleck was snubbed for best director and best actor–but his movie “Argo” is a favorite to win best picture. In the best actress category, 9-year-old “Beasts of the Southern Wild” star Quvenzhané Wallis is up against 86-year-old “Amour” actress Emmanuelle Riva–but Jessica Chastain of “Zero Dark Thirty” and Jennifer Lawrence from “Silver Linings Playbook” are the favorites to win. Daniel Day Lewis (“Lincoln”) and Anne Hathaway (“Les Miserables”) are also widely expected to bring home hardware tonight (though Hathaway faces a stiff challenge from Helen Hunt in “The Sessions”).

Watch a video preview of tonight’s event–and check back in with Speakeasy to follow the Oscars live!

Before “Argo,” screenwriter Chris Terrio had written half a dozen screenplays–three of them had landed on Hollywood’s “Black List” while the rest sat in a drawer for years.

But “Argo,” Terrio’s first script to be plucked from the Black List for feature-film production, was directed by Ben Affleck and produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov. It has also led to an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for Terrio. Read More »

The 2013 Golden Globes are on and Speakeasy is live-blogging the ceremony.

With Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as hosts, tonight’s show honors achievements in motion pictures and television. Nominees include “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Lincoln” and “Life of Pi” for Best Drama; “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Moonrise Kingdom” and “Les Miserables” for Best Musical or Comedy; and “Homeland,” “Downton Abbey” and “Breaking Bad” for Best TV Drama.

We have WSJ reporters sharing their dispatches and insights on the show. Join the conversation and leave your thoughts in the comments.

7:04 pm (EST)

Barbara Chai

The Speakeasy blog is live! Welcome, readers. What do you think of the red carpet looks so far for tonight’s Golden Globes? Any hits or misses?

About Speakeasy

Speakeasy is a blog covering media, entertainment, celebrity and the arts. The publication is produced by Barbara Chai and Jonathan Welsh with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Write to us at speakeasy@wsj.com or follow us on Twitter at @WSJSpeakeasy or individually @barbarachai.